Southwest Is Now Charging For Window Seats That Don’t Have Windows

United and Delta face class action lawsuits for selling seats with no windows beside them as window seats.

• They sell ‘window seats’ to customers
  
• But not all seats by the sidewall have window cutouts
  
• The airline knows this, but they still present the seats as though they do
  
• And the argument in their favor is that a ‘window seat’ doesn’t mean ‘has a window’ but merely ‘beside where a window would be, if there is one’

It is very easy to flag seats without a window beside them!

And now that Southwest charges for seat assignments I’d expect the same lawyers to come for them: Here’s a passenger putting the airline on blast, with the receipt showing ‘window seat’.

And here’s another:

Hey @SouthwestAir I literally paid for a window seat and all I got was a wall pic.twitter.com/EhNHuMhRha

— Nellie (@NFerrara37) April 18, 2026

I believe that 10A, 11A, and 11F are the “window” seats that do not actually have a window beside them on the Boeing 737-800 and MAX 8, for instance.

It seems reasonable to demand that customers who paid for window seats and did not receive windows should be refunded. However,

• The Airline Deregulation Act preempts state consumer protection claims that enlarge obligations “related to a price, route, or service.” Pure breach of contract claims enforcing the airline’s own promises can proceed under Wolens. And under Northwest v. Ginsberg (2014) implied covenant claims that add duties beyond the written contract are pre-empted.

• Southwest offers disclaimers that seat assignments and features aren’t guaranteed (but still, a refund should be due for non-performance…) and that aircraft and seat maps may change.

• And class actions are waived under contract of carriage. Furthermore, primary jurisdiction over whether labels like “window” are unfair and deceptive in air travel marketing sits within DOT’s authority to regulate and courts may be likely to defer to them.

Southwest fares used to include seat options via first board, first served. Now you can’t sit where you aren’t pre-assigned, and most seat assignments come with a fee. In making this change, Southwest wasn’t exactly thinking of the customer.

For a lawsuit over charging for something that Southwest didn’t provide, you’d need to overcome federal preemption, overcome class action waivers, get certified as a class and show damages. Those are high hurdles to clear, and that makes odds of success are low even though Southwest is clearly in the wrong here.